Anybody has the Antec SLK1600 or SLK3700. I would go for the SLK1600 I think as it doesn't have this door in the front that you have open and close all the time when you want to access your cdrom drvive etc.. unless you can easily remove that door on the 3700?

Also, do both cases have no airholes whatsoever in both side panels, as you can only see the case on one side on the Antec site? Do both cases also have no fan holes on the other side, cause lots of cases have this close to where the heatsink/fan is sitting?

PS: now that I take a closer look, the SLK1600 seem to have a vertical stripe of airholes on the bottom at the side you can see, is this correct. However if I check the inside picture there doesn't seem to be any airholes. How is this on the other side, which you can't see on the case picture?

Thanks in advance!!

Last edited by Dance123 on Tue Aug 19, 2003 4:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

The SLK1600 does have those rows of holes punched near the bottom on both sides. You can see them in the inside picture because you're looking at the MoBo tray when you're seeing a picture of the inside. The holes are actually on the other side of the MoBo tray. There's no particular advantage to having holes on the side panels anyway, especially if you're after a quiet computer. It's just another place for noise to escape.

The SLK1600 is a fairly run of the mill bottom-end case anyway. It's pretty cramped and not too easy to work in. It doesn't have removalbe drive rails for the optical drive which makes them harder to install and remove. Just a standard, ho-hum case.

Wow, now that Ralf mentioned it, I just ordered an Evercase 4252 today from Newegg. Thing is, I had no idea it was on the recommended list (!??) Silly me, and I usually print that thing out and study it on the john (jk). I just spent 2 hours perusing Directron and Newegg for a cheap case for my father-in-law, and somehow landed on the evercase. Lucky me.

I took the door off my SLK3700 for a while and it didn't look bad. It looked clear that there was something missing but not bad. It even looked kind of nice offset by the beige drives. I wanted a case with a door for several reasons: lower noise from internals and cdroms, cover ugly beige drives, cover up lights which I don't like when watching movies, and a clean outer look.

The SLK1600 does have those rows of holes punched near the bottom on both sides. You can see them in the inside picture because you're looking at the MoBo tray when you're seeing a picture of the inside. The holes are actually on the other side of the MoBo tray. There's no particular advantage to having holes on the side panels anyway, especially if you're after a quiet computer. It's just another place for noise to escape.

Are you absolutely sure those are airholes and not just a design pattern, cause when looking at the inside picture of the SLK1600 here (click for direct link to picture) I don't see any airholes in the side panel at all and the case seems completely empty on the inside picture so you can see everything?!! What exactly is a MoBo tray as you mention this?

Quote:

The SLK1600 is a fairly run of the mill bottom-end case anyway. It's pretty cramped and not too easy to work in. It doesn't have removalbe drive rails for the optical drive which makes them harder to install and remove. Just a standard, ho-hum case.

What makes you say the SLK1600 is more of a bottom-end case? Isn't the SLK1600 not simply an SLK3700 but then without that annoying door. I mean, it also has those "semi-covered" front intake to have less nois which seems pretty unique to the Solutions series of the Antec, unless other case have this also?! Just wondering about this..

The SLK1600 does have those rows of holes punched near the bottom on both sides. You can see them in the inside picture because you're looking at the MoBo tray when you're seeing a picture of the inside. The holes are actually on the other side of the MoBo tray. There's no particular advantage to having holes on the side panels anyway, especially if you're after a quiet computer. It's just another place for noise to escape.

Are you absolutely sure those are airholes and not just a design pattern, cause when looking at the inside picture of the SLK1600 here (click for direct link to picture) I don't see any airholes in the side panel at all and the case seems completely empty on the inside picture so you can see everything?!! What exactly is a MoBo tray as you mention this?

The MoBo tray is the inside wall of the case that the MoBo bolts to. It is a secondary wall that is slightly inboard of the outside case wall. Here's a picture that shows the area better. Note the rectangualr cut outs in the mobo tray. The case wall is behind that. If you look at this picture of the back side of the case you can sees the series of holes that's punched thriugh the case wall on the back side as well.

Dance123 wrote:

Quote:

The SLK1600 is a fairly run of the mill bottom-end case anyway. It's pretty cramped and not too easy to work in. It doesn't have removalbe drive rails for the optical drive which makes them harder to install and remove. Just a standard, ho-hum case.

What makes you say the SLK1600 is more of a bottom-end case? Isn't the SLK1600 not simply an SLK3700 but then without that annoying door. I mean, it also has those "semi-covered" front intake to have less nois which seems pretty unique to the Solutions series of the Antec, unless other case have this also?! Just wondering about this..

Thanks for the info!!

It's a bottom-end case for the reasons I stated above. Cramped, not easy to work in, no drive rails. Plus there is no removable side doors, the entire "U" shaped cover comes off in one piece after you unscrew several screws. This cover comprises both sides and the top of the case. All these features are the same exact things you see on el cheapo basic cases. Higher end cases have more user-friendly features like easy-to-open doors on both sides, drive rails to make drive installation easier, roomy interiors, thick steel construction and so forth. This case is not like that and is not at all similar to the SLK3700 except for the louvers and buttons on the front bezel. I've built systems using both cases so I am comparing them directly.

Plus there is no removable side doors, the entire "U" shaped cover comes off in one piece after you unscrew several screws. This cover comprises both sides and the top of the case. .

That feature alone is enough reason to stay away from this case. If you tinker with the innards of a computer a lot (and I'm assuming that you will if you are testing which "silent" ideas work best for you), then an easy-to-pop-off side door is highly advisable. The "U" shaped cover, where the entire case comes off save for the front and bottom, is a PITA to me.

The version of the SLK1600 that I bought recently has all three panels seperate.

You unscrew the thumbscrews on the back of the case and the top comes off, then you can lift out the side panels seperately. They also tend to rattle a little bit, especially when accessing the the cd drive, but even in just normal use, you will hear the odd rattle. Not annoying where this system is (guest room at the house), but I would not want it in my office.

It is on the smallish side inside and cramped to work in.

I installed the cpu and heatsink onto the motherboard outside of the case and then put it into the case, due to how cramped the case is. I did not put any PCI cards in the system, due to the fact that I was using a highly integrated nForce2 IGP board.

Cooling is only adequate in the case even with two vantec stealths, one intake and one exhaust. It is fairly quiet with those fans, but not as quiet as a Compucase LX-6A19 with two low rpm 120mm fans. Idle temp after about 10 minutes sit about 41c and load climbs to about 47c.

The drives all screw in as stated by others.

I would not purchase another one, as there are other better cases out there for just a few dollars more.

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